


Get Well Soon

by TheSoundOfThunderstorms



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Recurring Dreams, reinterpreted trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 05:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18046757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSoundOfThunderstorms/pseuds/TheSoundOfThunderstorms
Summary: It takes time to work through it.





	Get Well Soon

**Author's Note:**

> This was to challenge myself to write something completely from scratch and post it as quickly as I could. Hope you enjoy :)

She woke up in the middle of the woods. Leaves stuck to damp spots of skin and hid between tangled strands of hair. The scratches along her arm made her remember something. Her jacket was missing.

Sitting up, she looked around, finding broken branches and a trail of disturbed foliage leading away from her. She got up on shaking legs and stumbled along the path she probably made.

Along the way, she tripped over tree roots that ripped the fabric of her jeans and scraped at her knees. She steadied herself against the tree she tripped next to. Flares of hot, itchy pain made her stumble away from the tree in small panic. Ants. She held her hand tightly in her other, watching the ants walk along the side of the tree, busy foraging at the trail of sap oozing out of the leafless tree.

It wasn’t long before she found the end of the trail. It led off to a bend in the road, the curve of it overlooking a cliff before stretching around to where she couldn’t see anymore. She spotted something parked on the edge of it. Her motorcycle.

She went towards it. Something pressed against her face. Backing away, she wiped at the strings clinging to her skin. An old spiderweb, it’s wispy webbing long abandoned. She tried to wipe it off her face, paying no attention to where she stepped. Her foot slipped on a mud-slicked pile of leaves and her body went rolling down the incline she stood at the top of. The scratching of dirt and rocks against her skin came to a halt when she collided with the railing separating the woods and the road.

Pain vibrated through every vein in her body, the whole of it coming together to make her heart ready to burst open. Each breath threatened to blacken her vision and made her fingertips twitch with fear.

She stayed there on the ground, refusing to close her eyes. Broken words counted down the seconds between each blink, convincing herself that she could do it one more time, take the pain for that much longer.

Her mouth closed. Silence took over, holding her through the dulled pain.

Night came.

She reached out for the railing and pulled. The pain buzzed in inconsistent intervals. She managed to get on her feet and shivered at the breeze that picked up.

Her missing jacket sat folded beneath her helmet, both items resting on the seat of her motorcycle. She held the helmet down as she pulled the jacket from underneath it. The jacket smelled clean, the scent of grease and metal found nowhere. Another chill of wind encouraged her to put the jacket on and forget about the specifics. It could have been that she simply forgot she washed it.

From the few cautionary steps she took, she found that she was in no shape to drive. Her head pounded too much to be able to see and concentrate well. She didn’t want to end up driving off the side of the cliff. The thought made her put her helmet on. Just in case.

The motorcycle crawled forward. She pushed it along the edge of the road with the headlights turned on to illuminate her path. The lights made her eyes throb with pain but the surrounding darkness scared her more.

Nothing. Nothing came out of the woods. No other headlights came riding around the corner, horns honking in annoyance to tell her to push her bike straight. She was alone.

As she swerved her bike along the road, feet struggling to push in a straight line, a splattering of lights came into view. Finally, something.

She got to a gas station first. The bike laid on its side in a parking space of its own. She didn’t have the concentration to set its stand.

The fluorescent lights threatened her eyes with harsh beams as she walked into the gas station. She was glad to have kept the helmet on. Aisles of snack foods, overpriced batteries, and basic car supplies lined most of the store. She saw a woman waiting by the unmanned cash register with a cup of coffee in her hand. The lid sat crooked on top of the cup from how hard she gripped its sides.

“Excuse me.” She stepped towards the woman, her shaking arm reaching out.

The woman looked behind. The coffee she held fell to the floor. Artificial flavoring mixed in with old coffee wafted into the air. The woman gave the hot drink spreading across the floor two seconds of her time.

She pulled her arm back, transfixed on the other woman’s face. You know me. The pain in her body melted away.

“Fareeha?” The woman stepped closer, her hands reaching out for the helmet. She moved back with the helmet in her hands, blue eyes squeezed shut as tears hit the floor. She managed to speak between shaking breaths. “I found you.”

Who are you? She stared the other woman down, trying to find any memory of her because ‘Fareeha’ was right. That was her name.

“I went looking for you.”

“Who are you?” Fareeha spotted a name tag clipped to the blue scrubs the woman wore. The name sat in a dark shadow.  

“I never stopped looking for you.”

If she could get a little bit closer. “I’m sorry I can’t remember who-”

“I never stopped.”

It was like the other woman couldn’t hear her anymore.

-

Fareeha woke up against a tree in damp clothes. Droplets of water hit the top of her head, eventually dripping down her forehead. She snapped her head up and winced as it bumped against the trunk and caused a downpour of water to drench her. It must have rained.

She got up and took off her jacket that clung uncomfortably to her clothes. A couple of holes scored the heavily torn back. It looked like the last time she fell off her bike and ate pavement.

Fareeha looked around. She was in the woods. It took a moment, but she came up with an idea of where she was. Her route home was the only place that took her by the woods. Town was close.

Going in the general direction of the road and using a powerline in the distance as a marker, Fareeha took care not trip over any roots or uneven ground.

Relief filled her lungs at the sight of the road. She picked up her pace and squinted at something in the distance. Her bike. It sat on its side. Right next to the corpse of a wild boar. A group of vultures had the bike surrounded, a pair of them going at the boar while the rest cautiously kept watch.

Fareeha furrowed her brows as a bit of what happened came back to her. The boar came out of nowhere and she couldn’t stop. She remembered lying on the road terrified that the angry and injured boar had gotten up and come towards her.

Her arm throbbed. She looked down at it, eyes opening wide as she saw the bite mark on her arm. The irritated injury spilled out blood beneath a layer of dirt and leaves. Why didn’t I feel that?

Angry squealing echoed behind her. She dropped to the ground and covered the back of her neck with her arms as she pressed herself into a ball. Her scream ripped through the quiet. Hooves pressed into her back. They dug deep into her skin. Over and over.

Nothing.

There was nothing. Fareeha got up to her knees and pressed at the bite on her arm. It stung. But that was all that hurt. She turned around and saw nothing behind her. Eyes going back to the boar, her back ached the longer she stared at it.

Fareeha stood and continued towards the road. She picked up a dead branch from the ground, thinking she could use it to scare the birds away. She stopped right before stepping over the railing. A giant spiderweb. It sparkled with drops of water at the sunlight that peeked out from behind the clouds. From the top right corner, the web hummed with movement. Fareeha saw a long, black leg poking down into her sight. She scrambled away from the web before the rest of the spider came into view.

A stone’s throw away from the bike, Fareeha measured the situation, branch in hand. She could chuck it and hope the vultures got spooked. Fareeha wasn’t sure if they were aggressive or not and she wasn’t keen on finding out. The branch went flying when she couldn’t come up with a better idea.

It worked. The vultures gave her room to get to the bike. Fareeha took the opportunity to stand it up before the vultures could swarm back.

The keys were still there. One thing went right so far. Fareeha went to turn on the bike, screaming in pain when something sharp dug into her shoulder. One of the vultures. Maybe the sound of the bike trying to start scared the bird because it squawked into Fareeha’s face, its rancid breath causing her to cough in disgust. It flew off with her persistent pushes.

Where was her helmet? Fareeha gave the nearby area a quick look but couldn’t find it. Could have been that someone took it. But why not the bike as well? Another attempt to turn it on gave her one reason. No gas.

Fareeha slid off the bike. She pocketed her keys and guided the bike along the road. There was no way she was going to leave it behind. Even if her back ached. And her legs trembled.

Her grip loosened. The bike fell to a heap on the road. Fareeha stared down at the road gasping for breath. She dropped to her knees and felt her palms burning from scraping against the rough surface of the road.

A car came towards her. It parked in the middle of the road. Anxious steps hurried to her. Warm arms wrapped around Fareeha and she realized how cold she was. She could finally breathe.

“I found you.”

Apple shampoo. It filled Fareeha’s sense of smell. She relaxed into the hold, shuddering in relief as the pain numbed. I know you.

“I thought I wasn’t going to make it-,” a burst of tears interrupted the woman holding onto Fareeha, “when she called.”

When who called?

-

Fareeha woke up on the side of the road. Rain poured down around her. Her bike smoked beside her regardless. The tree branching out over the road gave some protection. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep the smoke coming.

She stared up into the leaves, freezing her gaze on the spiderweb above. From the little moonlight streaming through the clouds, she managed to catch a glimpse of red. A black widow.

She couldn’t move. Her body refused to obey the simplest of commands. Fareeha closed her eyes and hoped the spider stayed right where it was.

A light shone from the direction of Fareeha’s feet. She squinted in its direction. It came closer until she could see someone behind it.

A woman, eyes wide in fear. Messy, blonde hair spilled out of a ponytail. More came spilling out as the woman dropped to her knees by Fareeha. Her hands hovered over Fareeha as stuttered words came out of her mouth.

Fareeha felt pressure on her stomach.

“I found you. You’re going to be okay.”

“Who are you?” Fareeha surprised even herself when she heard herself speak.

“You’ll be okay.”

“You never answer me.” Fareeha looked away from the woman and back to the spider. It dangled above her head in a fine line of silk.

“I found you.”

“How many times have you found me?” The spider touched its legs to Fareeha’s face, disconnecting itself from its webbing.

“You’re going to be okay.”

“You promise?” Sharp fangs bit into her cheek.

The woman draped herself over Fareeha, the cries leaving her throat coming out rougher each time. Her head rested against Fareeha’s chest. “I love you so much.”

It felt good to hear that.

-

Blurry vision took in the white room around her. Fareeha went to rub at her eyes and found a needle in her arm. Pain shot through the arm until she gave up and let it drop to the bed.

She was in a bed.

Agony pierced through her side. Fareeha groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

Movement shot across from her. Something fell to the ground and then nothing.

Fareeha opened her eyes, curious at the commotion. Angela. Scared, relieved, tired, and greasy haired. Angela stood still, staring at Fareeha with all the hope in the world.

“You’re awake.”

Fareeha tried to sit up. She winced one time. That was all it took for Angela to rush closer to her.

“Please, try not to move.” Angela adjusted the bed at a snail’s pace until Fareeha could sit up. “I’m going to get the doctor.”

They did some tests. Told her how lucky she was. That she came in there riddled with bullets. And Angela never left her side.

“The police will be coming soon. To talk to you.” Angela stood next to Fareeha, having never sat back down since Fareeha woke up. “That is if you’re up to talk.” Her fingers squeezed at the blankets, balling them into her tight fists.

“Angela,” the name came out rough and weak, barely carrying through the room, “come here.” She patted the side of the bed the best she could.

“You sure?” Angela waited until Fareeha nodded. She climbed onto the bed, careful not put too much weight against Fareeha.

“I missed you.” Fareeha closed her eyes. The light tired them out. She could practically hear the smile in Angela’s reply.

“How could you miss me if you were asleep?” Angela pressed her hand to Fareeha’s chest, right over her heart. The response sounded light-hearted but Fareeha understood the message: I was the one that missed you.

“You were in my dreams,” Fareeha sighed, “but I could never remember who you were. So maybe it’s because I missed you. You know, in the way how dreams are never straight forward.”

“What was I doing there?” Angela's voice shook. She was close to crying.

The dreams came to Fareeha clear as day. “You kept saying that you found me.”

Angela buried her face in Fareeha’s shoulder and sobbed.

-

Fareeha recognized where she was. Almost home. Just a bit more of the woods.

Bright headlights came down from the other side of the road, blinding Fareeha as they headed straight for her. The air left her lungs and she went flying, rolling to a stop face down in the mud.

Boots sounded from the road. Their sound softened as they moved through leaves and grass. A cold hand grabbed Fareeha’s arm.

Small rocks, sticks, and tree roots tore through Fareeha’s skin. She couldn’t help but stay limp as someone dragged her further into the woods. Her whole body ached.

They stopped by a tree. Fareeha’s attacker spit out in annoyance as soon as it started to rain. “Rain, great. Here’s a good a spot as any.” They pulled Fareeha under a tree and sat her up against it.

Fareeha came face to face with her attacker. A woman with disinterest painted on her face.

“Look, nothing against you. It’s just business.” The woman patted Fareeha’s pockets and pulled out her phone. “But you seem nice enough so I’ll give you a chance.” The woman stood up with Fareeha’s phone and turned around, assumingly to scroll through the contacts.

“Oh, you’re married?” The woman said it in a way that let Fareeha know she knew this information beforehand.

Fareeha couldn’t see the expression on the woman’s face, only the giant spider etched into the back of her jacket.

“Let’s see if she’ll come pick you up.” The woman turned around with Fareeha’s phone pressed to her ear. She locked eyes with Fareeha when someone answered the phone. “Is this Angela? No? Oh, I’m a friend of her wife. I’m calling to say that something bad has happened. Mhm, yes I’ll wait.” She held a hand over the phone so the person on the other side couldn’t hear her. “You’re wife is very busy it seems, I hope she makes time for you.” A smile spread across her face. “Angela? Oh it doesn’t matter who I am.”

Fareeha’s heart stopped the moment a gun came into view.

“I’m calling to say that your wife has just been shot four times.” The woman squeezed the trigger, five times. “Sorry, five. You should probably come get her before she dies. She was almost home, you know? It shouldn’t be hard to find her.”

Distress sounded from the other side of the phone but it cut short when the woman ended the call. She bent down in front of Fareeha and gently put the phone back where she found it. “Like I said, nothing against you. I do hope you make it out okay. You know how business is. Angela should have known how business is.”

Fareeha wanted to leave that last part of the story out, but she knew if the police were ever going to find her attacker, they needed to know everything. She glimpsed at Angela from the corner of her eye and saw the love of her life staring at the wall like she was an empty husk of herself.

“Is that all? Are you sure there isn’t anything else you can remember?” The officer taking Fareeha’s statement didn’t push too hard for more information, he seemed understanding of Fareeha’s situation.

“No.” Fareeha shook her head. “That’s it.”

“If you do happen to remember anything else, don’t hesitate to call.” The officer stepped away from Fareeha and approached Angela. “We’d like to ask you some more questions in a moment, please don’t go anywhere.”

Angela nodded and the officer left the room.

“Fareeha…”

“Whatever it is, I don’t blame you.” Angela kept quiet but Fareeha could hear her crying. “What matters is that you came for me.” She sighed, trying to think of anything to stop the tears. “I’m tired. Could you tell the officers to come back later? I just want to sleep, and it helps when you’re with me.”

Angela shot up from her chair. She nodded at the request, wiping at her eyes as she went go find the officers.

A nurse came in with a vase of flowers as soon as Angela left. He placed it on the table next to Fareeha and handed Fareeha a card. He smiled. “Good news travels fast.”

Fareeha took the card, curious as to who could have sent it. She opened it, feeling the color leave her face as she read the message.

Get well soon. A spider signed beneath the words.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer.


End file.
